Obviously he’s only just been sworn in, and certainly isn’t PM yet.
But would he be wise to call a GE and give himself a mandate, 5 years–and perhaps a reduced majority, which might concentrate his MPs’ minds more.
That’s the last thing he should do.
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That would be an idiotic thing to do.
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He’s going to do it, isn’t he?
FWIW I agree, bloody stupid idea.
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I think that’d be a risk too far. I’m guessing the assumption is that Burnham’s crest-of-the-wave popularity would carry over into a GE. I’d be wary of that assumption. Many wanted Starmer gone, it’s true, but many also want Labour gone.
If he did that, he’d be PM for longer than Truss was, but not by more than a couple of months.
Indeed. Probably without actually being able to say why or without even knowing what the state of play WRT their favourite gripe is, just lapping up the narrative fed them by the RW press that Starmer and Labour are “no good”.
Reform are polling significantly higher than Labour at the moment, I can see the temptation to capitalise on Burnham’s popularity but would remind the audience that Mrs May tried that and came woefully unstuck.
And one thing I am fairly certain of is that a Reform led administration (or, worse by an order of magnitude - Restore) would have people hankering after the stability and competence of the Tories.
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Which is the best way to open the electorate’s eyes to how big a Dog & Pony Show politics really is.
Vote in the party proclaiming themselves to be the best thing since sliced bread and watch them be as useless as the last 10 governments.
Which might work were it not for the fact that a) we will have to live with the consequences in the meantime b) damage can be done quickly which will take generations to unpick and c) people will not learn and will vote for the next guy with shiny promises and no idea.
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Time to introduce no pension without 2 years service, just like the rest of the civil service
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Of course, if Burnham were honourable and consistent, he’d do what he, Rayner and a large number of their colleagues demanded of a newly-crowned Sunak: call a GE.
Meet the new boss …
For what it’s worth, I don’t think Burnham is morally obliged to call an election, any more than Sunak was, and perhaps even less, given the state of the Tories by that stage.
But I do value consistency.
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“Different cheek, same arse” is my favourite metaphor for the Westminster Uniparty.
The last person to affect lasting political change in the UK was a certain Gerry Adams with his Boyos from PIRA doing the heavy lifting.
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I do hope not. It certainly didn’t work for May.
I think if he gives himself a year to prove himself and actually be seen to ’ get things done’ he’d be ok.
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Gotta saying it. UK voters have caught the French disease. Never happy with whoever is in power. Macron only get elected the 1st time because he wasn’t someone who’d been tried before.
And I think that’s where the danger from Reform and Restore lie.
Perhaps it’s time to give PR a go I know one of the criticisms has been that you get frequent changes, but that’s really where the UK is now anyway.
I think we need root and branch reform, PR, elected upper chamber, perhaps even elected head of state.
We won’t get it of course.
PR is something that is talked about a lot by people out of power and hardly ever by those in power.
Also, it is a double-edged sword. We would have a hell of a lot more Reform (and now Restore) MPs if we had true PR.
Not the prison service. My brother did 18 months and couldn’t stand it and left. He does get a civil service pension, but not much.
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I feel I’m shadowing Roger here and I think he (it?) (what pronoun would the rabbit prefer to be known by?) is right and you guys are wrong. It will take a bold agenda to change the UK, Burnham is rowing back on that, and things will for the poorest still remain the same. So they will still vote reform.
One has to realise, the reason people vote reform is because they have nothing to lose - yes reform will wreck the country and make the poor poorer - they don’t care, they are already poor. If it sticks one to the intelligentsia, and SF aficionados, so much the better.
It was Brexit, then Trump. It is clear. “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.”
So Burnham should call an election, with a manifesto to address the issues - which includes tax rises - for defence, the NHS and a more financially equal and less racist and misogynistic society. Maybe slow tax rises, sure, however let us get the principles out there now - put the full facts in front of the people with the power of the government.
Present a clear choice - and let people choose - right versus wrong, the Makerfield people did that, and [most of] the rest of the country can find a soul and do the right thing too.
Everyone now knows Brexit was a disaster, and Farage was at the centre of that disaster. Invite the nation, do you want to keep on disastering, like Starmer, or start afresh.
And if the nation chooses “yes we will keep deluding ourselves we can have the level of protections we wish (education, health, defence, a civil society) without paying the price”, then there will always be the next time, and the next time after that when eventually the penny will drop.
Time to be honest, intelligent and principled, not (for example) refuse to revisit Brexit because we will lose seats like Makerfield (65% leave?). Starmer - “We will not rejoin the EU in my lifetime”. Well, if that is a ‘political lifetime’ then it has just got shorter.
Maybe the right wing press will win, but they didn’t in Makerfield (though they might have avoided Makerfield, I don’t read them).
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For obvious reasons I suppose. Lib Dems are keen, but the only way they’d get a chance to introduce it is if they win an election, or go into a coalition. The first scenario is unlikely without PR and the second is unlikely after their last disastrous coalition with the Tories, some people still haven’t forgiven them.
Yes, another good point I missed, PR is an absolute necessity for giving the poor a voice, and regenerating trust in government.
Of course there will be more reform MP’s, it reflects the political will of the nation. Has anyone thought, maybe less people will vote reform if they know they have a choice - that their vote will count. That’s part of the problem, they don’t think their voice is heard. (It isn’t).
PR is the solution. (even though the English voted against it haha).
Which is, in large part, why we ended up with Brexit. “My life is shit but if I have made yours shit as well I’ve won”.
You might be right about people thinking twice about voting Reform is they thought it might result in another Reform MP. there again they might not but we know that at least some of the Leave vote was there to “send a signal” by people who were then surprised Leave won.
But the world has changed - we no longer have pits, steel works, shipyards, the oil platforms are a shadow of their former selves as is defence. We mostly don’t build trains, or own the remaining companies that build cars. We’ve sold our best IT intellectual property.
Moreover the middle class “white collar” workers who smugly watched as manufacturing was decimated will now see their own jobs disappear as AI takes over.
We can’t stuff the genie back into the bottle - no matter how rose tinted the nostalgia.
I’m quite glad I’m retiring but have no idea who the feck is going to generate wealth to pay my pension.